Electron discharge apparatus circuit



Aug. 14, 1951 H. ALFVEN ETAL 2,563,807

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 17 Shee ts-Sheet 1 INVENTORS .HALF E N HRQMENUS BY M? ATTORNEYS Aug. 14, 1951 H. ALFVEN ETAL 2,563,307

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT A ()riginal Filed March 4, 1946 17 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS I -H. fXLF E N HROMAN Us ATTORN EYS Aug. 14, 1951 H. ALFVEN ET AL ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT l7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed March 4, 1946 INVENTORS HJ-XLFVE N HROMRN ATTC) P N EYS Aug. 14, 1951 H. ALFVEN ETAL ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 17 Sheets-Sheet 5 rtliv LPG 6 INVENTORS H. ALFVEN ATTORNEYS Aug. 14, 1951 H. ALFVEN ET AL 2,563,307

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 l? Sheets-Shea; 6

INVENTORS HALFVE'N ELROJ UXN By LU-ukQN-JZ Ti -M ATTORNEYS Aug. 14, 1951 ALFVEN ETAL 2,563,807

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 17 Sheets-Sheet 7 5 N I 49 4 I;

ATToRmgvs Aug. 14, 1951 H. ALFVEN ETAL 2,553,807

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 17 Sheets-$heet 8 F266 1?: Pesd INVENTORS HALFVEN HROMAN US Bf o 9 ATTO R N EYS Aug. 14, 1951 ALFVEN ETAL 2,563,807

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 1'7 Sheets-Shet 9 INVENTORS 1-1. fiLF iN PLROMANUS ATTORNEYS 14, 1951 H. ALFVEN ETAL ,563, 07

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 17 Sheets-Sheet 10' INVENTORS FLALF E'N H.ROM INUS BY a 9 ATTORN E\ Aug. 14,1951 H. 'ALFVEN ETAL 2,563,807

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed Match 4, 1946 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 11 INVE NTLSRS H. ALFVEN H O A US ma. NW?

ATTORN EY S g- 1951 H. ALFVEN ETAL 2,553,897

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 1 7.- Slwets-Sheet 12 INVENTO RS H-ALFVEN H.ROMRNUS ATTORNEYS Aug. 14, 1951 H. ALFVEN ETAL 2,553,807

* ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 194a- 1'? Shee'tsShe'et 1 3- AAlA ' ENT K,

By MY RAW EYS Aug. 14, 1951 ALFVE ETAL I ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 17 Sheets-Sheet 14 |N\/ENTORE HALFVEN HROMAN BY Lave/Q. M

ATTO'RN EYS Aug. 14, 1951 H ALFVEN ETAL 2,563,807

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 15 Ajay INVENTO RS HBLFVEN H. RomANus ATTORNEYS 4, 1951 H. ALFVEN ETAL 2,563,807

' ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original Filed March 4, 1946 l 17 Sheets-Sheet f6 v INVENTORS HJ5LFVEZ'N H'.ROMBNU$ ATTO RN tvs 1951 H. ALFVEN VETAL 2,563,@7

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Original File d March 4, 1946 17 Sheets-Sheet. 1'7

INVENTORS H,P \LV'N HDROMfXN US BY L ATTO R N EYE.-

Iatented Aug.

ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS CIRCUIT Hannes Alfven and Harald Romanus, Stockholm, Sweden, assignors to Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Original application March 4, 1946, Serial No. 651,920. Divided and this application October 13, 1949, Serial No. 121,152. In Sweden March 12 Claims. ((31. 315-21) The present invention relates to electron discharge apparatus and circuits therefor.

An object of the present invention is to produce electronic tubes which are adaptable to serve as selectors in automatic telephone systems. For this purpose it has been previously proposed to use cathode ray tubes of different designs in which the electron ray can be deviated so that it impinges on different electrodes in a switching field. A considerable inconvenience of such tubes is that they must be equipped with complicated devices to concentrate and focus the ray and that, in spite of high voltages used, this ray has an amperage which is unsatisfactory in view of the requirements in the art of telephony. Further the cathode ray tube takes up a considerable space in proportion to the surface of the switching field. In a tube according to the present invention there is no electron gun nor any electro-optical means necessary to generate the electron current causing the switching. The tube according to the present invention can be operated at lower voltages than a cathode ray tube but carries, in spite thereof, an amperage which is many times greater. Further it requires only a fraction of the space required by the cathode ray tube. The most important difference between the cathode ray tube and the present invention resides in the fact that in the electron ray of the former the electrons describe rectilinear or slightly circular or parabolic paths at a high velocity, whereas according to the present invention the electrons in the electron current perform a trochoidal or helical movement. It has been proved that such an electron current is more flexible and may be given more intricate geometrical configurations than is possible with a cathode ray and may therefore be formed in a manner impossible in cathode ray tubes.

Another embodiment of the invention is intended to be used as a switch or distributor, for instance, in simultaneous transmission of a number of telephone speeches or signal communications via a transmission line or a radio connection, said switch or distributor then associating'the different telephone channels successively and cyclically to a common line. As such cyclic switches there have been used, inter alia, electrical discharge devices in which a rotating homogeneous magnetic field generates an electro-optical image of the cathode which image is successively'impinged on the difierent anodes. The electrons move then in helical paths having axes parallel with the magnetic lines of force and the progressive direction of the electron current agrees always with the direction of the magnetic field. The utility of this known device is limited, inter alia, by the losses in the magnetic field coils, which losses increase with an increasing rotary frequency. According to the present invention there is used a magnetic field which may be stationary in space and an electric discharge tube in which the path of the progressive movement of the electron current is displaced in a direction differing from that of the magnetic field. This displacement may be efiected by a change of the voltage of electrodes whereby a very high switching frequency is obtainable.

It is a characteristic feature of the invention that the electron current not only is shiftable inits entirety between diiierent electrodes but that, as an alternative, its relative distribution on the electrodes may be gradually varied by the actuation of suitable control means. The present invention may therefore be used to transmit or amplify varying current processes or to modulate or generate electric oscillations. In a tube according to the invention the electrodes have further the property that within certain voltage ranges, the electron current of an electrode rises when the voltage thereof is reduced. Also this property may be used for the purpose of generating oscillations.

Other embodiments of the invention are intended to be used as oscillograph tubes or the like in which a varying electric process is made visible on a screen or photographic plate.

The invention is based on the utilization of an electron current in which the electrons perform a circular movement in a plane perpendicular to the magnetic field simultaneously with a progressive movement. This composite electron movement may be explained in principle as follows:

An electron starting at a certain initial velocity in a homogeneous magnetic field without being actuated by other forces moves in a path the projection of which is circular in a plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. If the starting velocity has a component parallel with the magnetic field or if an electric field parallel with the magnetic field is present the center of the circular path is displaced at the speed of said component in parallel with the magnetic field so that a helical path is described.

This electron movement may now be influenced by a disturbing force forming an angle to the magnetic field and being caused by an electric field or by an inhomogeneity in the magnetic field, or by a combination of said two factors.

The component of the disturbing force in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field results in that the center of the circular movement is displaced in a .direction which is substantially perpendicular' both to the disturbing component and to the magnetic field. The velocity of the displacement is proportional to the intensity of The above described electron movement may be produced in a vessel evacuated to a, suitable low pressure in which yessel-a pertain velocityis imparted to the electrons emanating from an electron-emitting device ztthe electron source) and in which the electrons are subjected to a magnetic field. Through the action of the mag.- netic field the electron-paths are curved so that the electrons are forced together :within a region adjacent the electron source. {Through the action of an electricfield or inhomogenieties in the magnetic fieldaswellas glue-toany initial velocity in the direction of the magnetic field which the electron source may have imparted to the electrons the electron paths are so displaced that said region is extended to form an electron channel projecting from the electron source. The width or" this channel is dependent on the diameter of the circular paths .Of the electrons. The electrons are retained within ;the channel by the magnetic field.

. The path of the electron channelthrough the The invention consists substantially therein that'the position of the electron channel is controlled by one or more control devices (the electron control means) adapted to influence one or more of the above mentioned disturbing factors, or theproperties of the electron current when leaving the electron source or the magnetic field.

In its most simple embodiment the electron tube has only one electrode device, the electron channel being then displaceable through the electron control means so that the electrode device is energized or deenergized. If the tube has at least two electrode devices the electron channel is so influenced according to the invention that switching takes place between two electrode devices or the distribution of the electron current on the two electrode devices is altered. Each electrode device may then comprise one, two or more electrodes as will be more closely described in the following text. An electrode device may in certain cases be equivalent with an electric charge of, for instance, a wall of the electron tube.

The invention will now be more closely described with reference to the accompanying drawings on which erent .manners I embodiment of the invention adaptedfor mev rnethods to change the course of the electron current in an electron tube according to the invention;

Figs. 4 and 5 are longitudinal and cross-sec- ..tions on lines 4-..-4 and 55 respectively of an embodiment of an electron tube comprised by the invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view with a circuit diagram relating toatube according to Figs. 4.and 5;

Fig. 7 is a current diagram relating to the shifting of the electron current and its distribution between different electrodes;

Fig. 8 is a circuit diagram relating to another method to shift the current of the tube shown in Figs. 4 and 5;

Fig. 9 isa cir.cuit diagram and a perspective view relating to the utilization of two types of electrodes according to the invention, termed contact electrodes and control electrodes respec:

tively;

Figs. 10 and 11 are a longitudinal section and a horizontal sectionon line I I.---I I respec t ively of an electron tube including a further .typeofelectrodes termed regulating electrodes;

Fig. 12 is a circuit diagram relating to an rem:- bodiment of the invention including control elec;

' trodes;

Figs. 13, 14, 15, 1-6 and 17 show diagrammatie cally different embodiments of the electron .tube comprised by the invention;

Figs. 18 and 19 show a longitudinal section and a cross section on line vl9l9 respectively of an embodiment of the invention including an inhomogeneous magnetic field;

Figs. 20 and 21 are a diagrammatic side view and'a horizontal section on line .2I.-.-2i respectively of an embodiment of the invention including local control coils;

' Fig. 22 showsdiagrammatically anembodiment of the invention including different series of control coils;

Fig. 23 is a diagram for embodiments of the invention in which a movement of the electron also in the direction of the magnetic field is iutilized;

Figs. 24 and 25 show' longitudina lfand cross sections respectively of an embodimentof --the'fin vention in which the electron current-may be deviated in the direction of the magnetic field;

Fig. 26 is a perspective view of apart of an, electrode systemtin which the electron current may be.dislvlfiwed al i the directio o theme netic field; Figs- 2' d 8 s w. a n iwdii a sect pn andv across section on line 28'28 respectively of an chanical shifting ss a c t e amfpr the m ni ulat on f o ct n rrents w thin t eilse esclejttrode system;

Fig. 30 a diagrammatic illustration of devices for recor n c a es in he'c urse a d pera of t le t on urren b i uct ve a acit ve means; v V

Fi 3.1 s a d a rammati illu trat on o a on: tact couple;

Fig. 32 is a current diagram relating to a con: tact couple;

Fig. 33 shows di erent vembc iimen s-9 ontact couples? M.

Fig. 40 is a circuit diagram illustrating a 3 method according to the invention for call and busy-marking in electron tubes used asfinders and selectors in automatic telephone systems;

Fig. 41 shows diagrammatically the utilization oi the invention as a cyclically operating switch in systems of multiple telephony;

Figs. 42 and 43 are diagrams illustrating the utilization of the invention in senders and receivers respectively in a system of multiple telephony having pulse-time-modulation;

Fig. 44 is a voltage diagram showing the wave shape of the impulses in the: arrangement shown in Figs. 42 and 43;

Figs. 45 and 46 are circuit diagrams exemplifying the utilization of the invention in oscillators;

Fig. 47 is a diagram exemplifying the utilization of the invention in mixer tubes; and

Fig. 48 illustrates diagrammatically anembodiment of the invention in which the electron current is made visible by energizing a fluorescent screen.

In the following specification the same reference characters refer to similar parts.

To illustrate the properties of the electron current according to the present invention a brief summary of the mathematical grounds for the electron movement will be presented. The electrons move in a magnetic field of the strength H under the influence of an electric field of the intensity E and/or inhomogeneities in the magnetic field. The electron movement is composed by a circular movement and a progressive movement of the center of the circle. Provided the effect of the inhomogeneities in the electric and magnetic fields are small in comparison with the force exerted on the electronsby the magnetic field the circular movement is characterized by the fact that the magnetic moment is constant. The circular movement takes place in a plane perpendicular to the magnetic field and is characterized by the equation in which r=the radius of the circle,

c=the potential equivalent of the kinetic energy of an electron counted in a coordinate system moving at the velocity of the center of the circle which quantity may be termed the reduced potential,

m=the mass of the electron,

c=the charge of the electron,

c=the velocity of light.

The movement of the center of the circle is determined by the equations 6 "Jj'fu l u- 6H f1 d fa in which 1:, y and z are the coordinates of the center of the circle in a coordinate system, the axes of which are at right angles but may be curved, the z-axis coinciding with the direction of the magnetic field H, and IX, f and fz are the components of the disturbing force ,1 in the m-. and z-directions.

The disturbing force I is obtained from the equation f=eE,c grad H-mZZ (5) in which I ,a (mu) =the magnetic moment of the electron movement vxy=the velocity of the center of the circle in the mil-plane The magnetic moment is From Equation 4 it may be seen that the movement of the electron in the z-direction is independent of its movement in the say-plane. The electron movement in "the-direction of the magnetic field may thus be calculated separately and then directly superposed upon the movement in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. In the continuation of the mathematical considerations only the projection of the electron movement in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field will be considered, compare Fig. 1.

It may then be proved that the projection of the center of the circular path in this plane is displaced along a line which may be called the base line and is characterized by the equation eV pconstant in which V=the electrostatic potential V=the above'cited reduced potential Ci=a constant depending on the conditions on which the electron leaves the electron source.

In case of a homogeneous magnetic field, i. e-. grad H =0, and if the term zu (it is disregarded, the velocity v of the displacement along the base line of the projection of the center of the circle will be in the Equation {7 may .bedisregarded in many cases and the base line will'approximately follow 

